Best Au Gratin Potatoes? We Rank the House Brands

It was practically yesterday when we gobbled up our Thanksgiving turkeys and more holiday cooking is just ahead. And if money wasn't tight in November, it's tight now, with all the gifts to get. December is not a great month for the college kid's wallet.

We'll see if that's the case for each of the next three weeks' columns as we test dishes for the season. First up is au gratin potatoes: a classic, cheesy, and easy comfort dish, perfect for keeping you warm.The following brands were purchased Nov. 6 in the Chicago area, so prices are subject to change. Also important to note: the nutritional facts listed are for the products as packaged. Once you start adding milk and butter or margarine, the calories, fat, etc. will climb.

Brand Name:Betty Crocker (General Mills)Cost: $1.77 at SuperTarget; $1.99 at a Chicago-area grocery store.Size: 4.7 oz.Nutritional Facts: (for 1 oz.) 90 calories (0 from fat); 0 grams of total fat (0% recommended daily value); 590 milligrams of sodium (24% recommended daily value); 22 grams of total carbohydrates (7% recommended daily value)Taste: We'll admit we had the highest expectations for Betty Crocker; for years that brand name has been so synonymous with home cookin' that Betty's practically family. Alas, she let us down. The potatoes cooked up nicely, though they were a bit too chewy. But our biggest problem was with the thin sauce. Its wateriness diluted what should have been gooey goodness.

Greatest Value: Only a Scrooge would serve Aldi's au gratin potatoes this holiday season just because it's cheap. It's the culinary equivalent of a lump of coal in your stocking. On a scale of 0 to 10, this one gets a value score of 2.

Betty Crocker comes in third with a value score of 4, for being the most expensive brand of potatoes (with a smaller serving size than Target and Jewel), and also one of the weakest tasting. Sorry Betty, you've been beat.

That leaves Target's Market Pantry and Jewel-Osco's Jewel brand fighting neck and neck for the top prize. You can't go wrong with either brand -- both are delicious, as good as you'll get without making au gratin potatoes from scratch. They're both the same serving size. And they're both comparably priced.

But that nickel difference is enough to push Target to the top. Target's Market Pantry wins with a value score of 9. But it seems unfair to give Jewel a score of 8 for costing just five extra cents, so in a Store Brand Scorecard first, we're awarding that brand an 8.9. Hey, it's the holidays ... we can be a bit generous.

Over the next two weeks, come back for reviews of hot cocoa and bake-'em-yourself cookies and brownies.

Piet Levy's Store Brand Scorecard tests a major label food product and three private label equivalents to see which brand offers the best value for the price. It appears every Monday on WalletPop's Money College page.